The 40-year-old father and his two boys (8) almost died when a loader tractor crashed into their home in KwaNyuswa near Durban on Tuesday.

Nhlanhla told Daily Sun he had no idea how they managed to escape unharmed.

He said he was busy installing ventilators in his newly built two-roomed house.

“The boys were playing when I heard a loud bang coming from one side of the house.

“I told them to run away. Next thing I knew the bricks fell down and there was a tractor, right inside my house.”

He said the driver told him his brakes had failed. The machine was fixing roads damaged by the October storms.

“The driver said he tried to swerve to avoid hitting my house, but that didn’t work.

“I am shattered because I’ve just finished building and was looking forward to moving in at the beginning of December.

“I wanted to move in with the twins and leave the family in the house.” He said he wanted the municipality to fix his house. “I spent a lot of money on it. The municipality should pay for this,” he said.

Daily Sun sent an enquiry to the eThekwini Municipality.

Spokeswoman Princess Nkabane replied: “I’ll revert as soon as I collate the information.”